Center for Energy Finance Education & Research

Endowments

Mirant Corporation merged into GenOn Energy in 2010

Sponsors

Mariner Energy was acquired by Apache in 2010

The Department of Finance has identified energy finance and financial risk management as key areas for innovative research and curriculum development. Energy and capital markets are undergoing fundamental transformations that require the creation of new curriculum and research. Moreover, there is a critical need to better prepare managers to understand, quantify, monitor, and manage the financial risks created by volatile energy prices, foreign exchange rates, and interest rates.

Creating the Center

As a first step in the creation of the preeminent academic program in energy finance, The University of Texas established the Center for Energy Finance Education and Research (CEFER) in the Department of Finance at the McCombs School of Business in 1997. Dr. Ehud I. Ronn served as the founding director of CEFER and stewarded the organization until 2009.

Defining Our Objectives

CEFER’s original objective was to support curriculum development in corporate finance and financial risk management applied to energy and financial commodities as well as to support faculty development and research in the Department of Finance. Under Dr. Ronn’s leadership, the Center has served as the focal point for the leading academic program in energy finance and financial risk management. Among the many successes of CEFER, the creation of the National Energy Finance Challenge MBA Case Competition and the design and implementation of an Energy Finance MBA and BBA Concentrations stand out as special achievements.

Expanding the Center's Scope

In 2009, the McCombs School of Business founded the Energy Management and Innovation Center (EMIC) in an attempt to capitalize on CEFERs successes and expand the energy focus to the entire school. In the new organizational structure, Dr. Ronn continues his leadership in energy finance by serving as the Finance co-director of EMIC. The director of EMIC – Dr. Sheridan Titman – works with Dr. Ronn and the EMIC co-directors in other functional areas of McCombs to conduct scholarly research in energy management and serve as the point of contact for business related energy issues for the UT campus external constituents. Specifically EMIC is dedicated to gaining a better understanding of the economic, commercial, and policy issues involved in the production, distribution, and consumption of energy.